No, though I’m sure I could write 1000’s of words complimenting all of you, today the topic is complement.

***

With every marathon that I’ve run, I have tried to follow a plan of some sort. For Manchester in 2009 it was the Runners’ World plan for Intermediate Runners. For Providence, and consequently Boston, last year (Spring 2010), I went with lots of long, slow, miles. For Smuttynose & New York (Fall of 2010) and Boston this year I followed my running bible, Advanced Marathoning.

In retrospect, I now believe I missed a very important part of the training process in each of these training cycles.

Yes, I put in the miles – man, did I put in the miles.

I ran fast.

I ran slow.

I ran hills.

I ran flats.

I.

Ran.

A lot!

See a “running” theme here? Despite mixing up the types of runs I was doing, I essentially did nothing other than run. Oh, I touched on doing push ups for a couple of weeks, planks for even fewer, but for the most part, every workout was about the run, run, run.

***

Now, my ego is still hurting a little from my collapse at Boston this year. Yes, I did manage to make Lemonade out of Lemons. I enjoyed myself immensely. But honestly, it is not the way I would have chosen to run this, or any marathon.

I’m not saying that my asthmatic episode was caused by a lack of core strength or lack of flexibility. I’m not looking for excuses. But I do know this – Pfitz’ 12/55 program call for 4 – 5 day of running per week. On the off days, the plan calls for either rest or cross-training. During the past two training cycles I have almost always chosen rest, and by “almost always” I mean always – an older guy like me needs recovery time, right?

Looking back I can’t help but wonder – would a stronger core have helped me expend less energy over the first 17 miles of Boston? would that conserved energy have translated into my breakdown happening much later in the race? would I have arrived at mile 17 just that much sooner? would increased flexibility have prevented the eventual tightening of my legs and shoulders after I went into survival mode? would I have been able to stride it out on the Newton Hills?

I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if the episode was stress and anxiety induced.

However, I do know that every edge helps.

I went into Boston this year thinking that my legs were ready to run a 3:10. I still believe that they are, but I wonder if there are other parts of my running system that need a little extra work?

With that thought in mind, the next training cycle is going to be a little different from previous ones. I will still take rest days to be sure, but they will be significantly fewer and farther between.

There will be more stretching.

There will be more consistent core work.

There will be regular cross-training.

I’ve got 2 1/2 weeks to adapt to this new routine if I’m gonna run the marathon portion of the 24 Hours Around the Lake Race in late July. Hopefully, these complements will take my running up a notch and eventually take me to my goal.

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WOW, waking up to a post that combines a grammatical point that many people fumble over AND the praises of core work/stretching in conjunction with running is eclipsing the royal wedding blather for me!!

I have a post composed in my head (that will eventually make it to a real post) disagreeing with a prominent running guy who I won’t bash by name here who sent out one of his newsletters in which he said, “I don’t see the need to stretch” along with “most runners I knew who did yoga ended up injured.” I am convinced the core yoga class I take weekly is going to eventually help me have a more effective “engine” – and more so than the fact that the “expert” disagreed with those two things I objected to his utter dismissiveness – yuck.

Matt, I think you are on track with the adjustments you want to make. I believe that a strong core and the right amount of flexibility makes running easier, and can really get one over the hump in the marathon. At least, I hope that’s the case, as it’s the same investment I’m making this season. Even if you only feel better prepared mentally, that is a huge leap forward. Best of luck.

I have a pretty intense stretching routine that I go through before and after every run. I did a fairly intense core routine after my runs 2-3 times/wk during this training cycle. I’ve always done the stretching routine, I added core this training cycle. I believe my stretching routine has helped me remain injury-free. I believe my core routine has made me a stronger runner. However, neither of these things helped prevent my collapse in Boston this year… 😉

I have a Yoga for Runners DVD that I will be incorporating into my “rest or cross training” days from here on out. I just think it’s smart to take care of your body by building strength and flexibility while you’re putting-in the kind of mileage we are.

I had a similar experience at Boston. I was on a pace for a 3:15 marathon (7:21 average pace until the firehouse). But blew up badly.

I do core strengthening on Mondays and Fridays with a group of Triathletes and I push myself pretty hard in these sessions. I do think it helped me in the event and it has certainly helped me remain healthy.

What I wish I had done was more downhill speedwork. The pounding of those early miles left my legs tired before I even got to the hills.

I would advocate adding strength and especially core conditioning to your routine regardless of your next race.

We have a mutual friend in common. Lynn Ryan is a client of mine and she actually send me one of your blogs which is how I started following you. I have noticed your trend of only running, which almost is the exact opposite of my running plan (check out my blog). So, first, I would to invite you to join myself and Lynn for any or all of the run. Should be fun.

Second, I think I can help, or maybe we can help each other. Your picture at the finishing line was very revealing and I think the root of your bonk at mile 17. If you are interested let me know, and no, this is not a sales pitch. I think we could surely help each other.

Third, thanks for the blog. There have been a few that made me laugh and even more that have kept me moving.

Thanks Michael! I will definitely take you up on helping each other out. I don’t know that I will be able to join you for your run (though it sounds like a fantastic way to spend your birthday), but I will definitely check out your blog.

Okay, you’ve got way more experience at marathoning than me, and you’ve got a very knowledgeable group of running friends around you, but here’s my 2 cents anyway.

I think you need to keep in mind Occam’s Razor when evaluating your Boston performance – that is, the hypothesis with the fewest conditions (i.e. the simplest) is probably the correct one. In that context, I think you just went out too hard. You may very well have been in 3:10 shape (although given the difficulty of the course, maybe 3:15 was more reasonable). That said, looking at your early splits, you were running below 3:10 pace. For awhile you were running at 3:05. That doesn’t sound like much, but I was just reading that if you come in more than 2 minutes faster than you are trained for at the half (that’s just 9 seconds faster per mile!), you have blown your race and can expect to hit the wall hard.

Honestly, from your race report, it sounds like you had a pretty classic bonk. You went out a little harder than you were trained for and your glycogen ran out. Fat requires a lot more oxygen to burn than sugar does, so if you try to maintain your speed while shifting to fat burning, your oxygen demands will increase, your heartrate will go up, and you’ll have trouble breathing until you slow your effort. I had the same breathing difficulties when I hit the wall, and it felt different than when I’ve had exercise induced asthma in the past. All I could do was slow down. I’m not saying I’m 100% sure you didn’t have an asthma attack, I’m just saying that Occam’s Razor kind of points to a bonk rather than an asthma attack.

Another issue that might have aggravated the situation was your hydration status. I know you wrote that you drank more than you did in training, but it still might not have been enough. It was HOT out there on the pavement and we were in the direct sun with little to no shade. I drank way more than I did all winter, and I was still pretty dehydrated by Newton. As you get hot and dehydrated, you can experience cardiac drift (i.e. your heart rate starts to increase because your plasma level decreases). When your heart rate goes up like that, your breathing will become labored.

So what to do going forward? Yoga, stretching, cross-training all have value to your overall health no doubt, but if your target is a 3:10 marathon, then you really just have to run more. You still seem to have more speed than endurance (my issue too), and it seems like the most commonly recommended remedy is more (slow) miles. The Pfitz 55 program sounds like a lot of miles to recreational runners like me, but most of the people I’ve seen who are in the sub-3:15 range look like they do the Pfitz 70 program – average 55 mpw, and peak at 70. I mean, sure there are outliers, but I’ve been reading a lot of race reports this past week, and it seems like almost all the people running 3:05-3:10 or better did about 20% more mileage than you did. Add some miles and do them slow so that you don’t get injured.

In terms of your calendar, I guess if you want to have your cake and eat it too, you’re going to have to go for the Wakefield race. But I would be very conservative and target a 3:14:59 until you get to the 20 mile mark. If you can turn it on the last 10k, so much the better, but a BQ-5 should almost certainly be enough to get you in for 2012. Don’t get greedy until the last 10k. Then you can do your ultra, and all the long slow miles from that training will certainly improve your aerobic base for running Boston 2012. Then you can just run your 3:10 there and have your BQ-10 for 2013.

Sorry, that was more like $5 than 2 cents, but I think you’re overthinking everything. Relax and be patient. Endurance takes much longer to build than speed, and you’ve only been at this for a little over 2 years. You’ll get there, I promise.

Buddy, that was more like $10…$10 I would gladly pay. You always, ALWAYS leave smart, thought out comments that are almost always “a-ha” moments for me. I just want you to know that I always appreciate your wisdom. I may have more marathon experience, but I do think that you are much more knowledgable than I am. Thank you for taking the time.

Heh, I am intimately familiar with the wall. Just to be clear, I don’t think you need to do the 70 for the Lake race – it’s probably too soon after Boston to do that anyway. I’ll bet your cumulative mileage is enough to get you to sub-3:15 (just watch your pace). I was more talking about Boston 2012 when you can try for sub-3:10. At that point, your ultra mileage should be enough base that the 70 program won’t be a big deal.

I do think BQ-5 will get in, because most people qualify right under the mark. And everyone has the same problem – the fall marathons are too late to improve their times, and there isn’t much in the summer that really works (not to mention, the summer ones won’t be late enough for 2013).